Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Kunal Debnath -- Copyright Page / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 2 The Naths (Yogis) / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 3 Caste Status and Resistance of the Naths of Bengal / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 4 Caste Status and Resistance of the Naths of Assam / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 5 Socio-economic Status of the Naths of West Bengal and Assam / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 6 Mainstream Politics and the Naths of West Bengal and Assam / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 7 Caste, Marginalisation, and the Politics of Identity of the Naths of Bengal and Assam / Kunal Debnath -- Chapter 8 Some Tentative Concluding Observations / Kunal Debnath.

The identity politics of the householder Naths (Yogis), on the one hand, is one of the oldest and most persistent identity assertions in Bengal and Assam. On the other, for an array of reasons, the identity assertion of the householder Naths of Bengal and Assam has failed to draw academic curiosity so far. Since the late nineteenth century, a segment of the Naths, largely educated and elite, has been crafting their identity as Brahman grounded on their "origin myth", negotiating with the British colonial administration through different census enumerations, as well as internal social reforms. One of the primary reasons for their current lagging is that the Naths never politicised their identity and demands, and did not mobilise themselves in the democratic political arena.

English